1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sealed housings suitable for use submerged in a liquid environment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel construction and assembly technique for an enclosure for submersible mechanical equipment. The invention allows the housing to be conveniently constructed from dissimilar materials or difficult geometries in a heretofore unknown economical manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of housings for submersible mechanical equipment such as pump and motor devices have long been known in the art. One particular style of fluid pump which is generally intended to be either permanently or temporarily mounted within a shallow pit has become commonly known as a sump pump. These pump and motor devices may be powered by conventional gasoline or electric motors, as desired.
For a variety of engineering considerations, it is beneficial to produce a portion of the housing out of metal. For example, during assembly of a motor in the housing, it may be required to press the stator into the housing. A plastic housing would be crushed in such an operation. Simultaneously, for a variety of economic and aesthetic considerations, it is desirable to produce the remaining portion of the housing out of lightweight materials such as plastic or a composite material. Therefore, to best satisfy these requirements, housings were constructed which used metal pieces or sections when necessary to satisfy the above requirements.
Prior art submersible housings constructed from dissimilar materials are generally assembled in inefficient manners. Most often, two housing sections are simply abutted and include flanges to form a projection that circumscribes the exterior of the housing. This projection is formed in part by each section and is generally centered along the seam separating the sections. A gasket or seal placed between the section flanges precludes fluid seepage within the housing. A steel band clamp which is adapted to engage the projection is put into place and maintains pressure on the individual sections. Each section is biased towards the other, securing the housing sections together as the diameter of the clamp is reduced by rotation of a drive sump.
These prior art housing assemblies have inherent design flaws which preclude, to some extent, their usefulness for their intended function. The band clamp provides a measure of compression but little more. Finally, producing the finished assembly is labor intensive, material expensive, and does not easily allow for automation of the assembly.